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Location-based social-media tools are getting a lot of media play as the next big thing, but there is a problem of scale, notes MG Siegler on TechCrunch. Basically, he notes, the more people a user follows on location-based services such as Foursquare, the less utility they have.

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Mobile technology has finally evolved to the point where the location-based service Foursquare can fulfill its potential, CEO Dennis Crowley says. Seamless geo-location technology and pop-up notifications let Foursquare engage users as they walk around, Crowley says.

Facebook is performing due diligence on geo-locating network Loopt in a possible prelude to acquiring the location-based social network. Facebook thus far has avoided adding location features to its popular site, perhaps out of privacy concerns, MG Siegler notes.

The Huffington Post is planning to fold tweets from PR representatives into its regular blog comments, allowing companies to pay to join the conversation underneath blog posts and news stories. "Being part of the conversation is likely to be a more effective marketing tool than simply embedding a banner advert or roadblock ad," notes Kit Eaton. "The PR folks can deliver their data in a very targeted way to a big audience, and HuffPo gets the revenue."

Garrick Schmitt, group vice president of experience planning at Razorfish, provides an overview of how established companies such as Starbucks and startups such as Foursquare and Gowalla are tapping the burgeoning location-based marketing segment. "It's still early days for geolocation, and privacy issues will certainly come to the fore sooner rather than later," Schmitt writes. "But forward-thinking brands would do well to take note."

Location-based social networking will eventually bridge the gap between virtual spaces and the real world, writes MG Siegler. "Social networking up until this point has been great. But it's also really a bit odd. The core concept is still to gather your friends in a virtual construct," he writes. Siegler notes that tools to manage privacy and let the user decide when to share location data are key to the technology's success.